Sounds of Korea

Traveling to China’s southern regions and India

2017-08-09

There is an aria entitled “Jebinojeonggi (제비노정기),” which roughly translates as “a swallow’s journey,” in pansori Heungboga (흥보가). As the title suggests, it’s a song about a swallow that had been saved by Heungbo flying to the south in the fall and returning to Korea in the spring with gourd seeds to reward Heungbo’s kindness. Here the south refers to the region south of China’s Yangtze River. The region is mild in climate and was economically robust at the time thanks to the trade of goods along its canal. The southern region of China, therefore, became filled with affluent residential areas. The first place that appears in the aria “Jebinojeonggi” is Szechuan Province in southwestern China. The swallow starts its migration in Szechuan and flies across the continent to reach Korea. During the journey, the bird stops by famous sites in China. People in the old days probably included all the places they want to go in their songs, paintings, and writings.

Music 1: Jebinojeonggi from “Heungboga”/ Sori by Yu Young-ae

You just listened to Yu Young-ae singing Jebinojeonggi from “Heungboga.” If you follow the route the swallow took on its way to Heungbo’s home, you can see that it flies to Beijing first, and then crosses the Yalu River to pass through Pyongyang before reaching Heungbo’s house located somewhere between Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do Provinces. That means the swallow took a roundabout route, instead of flying directly to Korea across the Yellow Sea. But the path the swallow took is actually the same one that Korean and Chinese diplomats took when they traveled to each other’s countries in the old days. It would have been more convincing for a bird to migrate via a well-known route or more interesting to describe places that most people probably cannot visit in their lifetime, if only in a song. To most people of Korea, who lived at the eastern end of Asia, China and Japan were the only foreign countries they were aware of. But there was also a country called Cheonchuk (천축) a little farther west of China, which included India and Central Asia. When Buddhism spread through the Three Kingdoms in ancient Korea, many Buddhist monks paid pilgrimages to India by traveling through China. Buddhist monk Hyecho’s (혜초) travelogue entitled “Wang’ocheonchukgukjeon (왕오천축국전)” written in the early 8th century describes his journey to the five kingdoms in India. Back then it was difficult for ordinary people to travel even to a neighboring province, so going to India was unthinkable for most people, therefore India was considered a mystical land, so much so that most Koreans thought India was located on the way to the underworld.

Music 2: Road to India/ Saenghwang by Sohn Beom-ju and sitar by Kim Chang-su

That was “Road to India” with Sohn Boem-ju playing the saenghwang and Kim Chang-su the sitar. The combined performance of Korea’s traditional wind instrument saenghwang and India’s string instrument sitar makes the piece sound even more exotic. The road that connected Korea to China and then to India was the Silk Road. It wasn’t just a trading route for silk and other goods, but also for the eastern and western religions and cultures. The Silk Road was a treacherous course that passes through sizzling deserts and snowy mountains. Travelers were targeted by so many bandits along the road that a Chinese Buddhist monk wrote that the white skulls of people who had been killed served as signposts. But, however dangerous the road was, it led to a much bigger world where people can experience amazing new cultures and meet all sorts of interesting people. Korea’s Buddhist music was heavily influenced by the music played along the Silk Road. Diverse stories and music that originated so far away still enrich our culture. This week’s Sounds of Korea concludes with “The People of Kashgar and the Silk Road” with Jin Yun-gyeong playing the piri.

Music 3: The People of Kashgar and the Silk Road/ Piri by Jin Yun-gyeong